Nel, a global leader in hydrogen production solutions, has announced its choice of Plymouth Charter Township, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, as the location for its forthcoming gigafactory. Once fully developed, this facility will rank among the world’s largest electrode manufacturing units, boasting an impressive total annual capacity of 4 GW utilizing Alkaline and PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) technology.
Hakon Volldal, CEO of Nel, expressed enthusiasm for the selected location, stating, “Plymouth Charter Township is an ideal location for Nel. Here, we have access to a highly educated workforce, universities and research institutions, and we are close to our collaborating partner, General Motors. In addition, the Government and the authorities of Michigan have provided a very attractive financial support package for us.”
To further bolster this project, the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) has granted a significant financial package, including a USD 10 million Michigan Business Development grant and a 15-year, 100 percent State Essential Services Assessment (SESA) Exemption Request valued at up to USD 6.25 million.
Nel has already secured over USD 50 million in support for its Michigan site, and pending approval of additional state and federal applications, this amount could increase substantially to around USD 150 million.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer expressed excitement over the prospect, stating, “We welcome Nel Hydrogen and its new gigafactory to Southeast Michigan. This investment will bring good-paying jobs to the region and build on our leadership in cars, chips, and clean energy.”
The manufacturing facility in Plymouth will leverage Nel’s fully automated electrolyser concept, initially developed at its production facility in Heroya, Norway. Additionally, Nel’s expansion of the Wallingford facility will play a critical role in creating a blueprint for scaling up the production of Nel’s PEM electrolysers.
Nel plans to continue adding production capacity in line with market demand. In the second quarter of 2023, Nel reported record-high quarterly revenues of NOK 475 million, reflecting a remarkable 159 percent increase from NOK 183 million in the same quarter of 2022.
This substantial growth in revenues is attributed to a large fueling contract for 16 stations in the US. The order backlog at the end of the second quarter was at NOK 2,964 million, showing a substantial increase of 106 percent from Q2 2022. Nel also boasted a strong cash balance of NOK 4,122 million at the quarter’s end.